


roses are red, lilies are blue, idk what to call this flowershop au

by kirani



Series: Gansey Week 2019 [7]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/M, First Dates, First Meetings, Flirting, Flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-13 00:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20165479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: The man was thumbing at his lower lip as he looked at the displays of premade bouquets, looking between each of them and never picking one up. Eventually, Blue took pity on him and stepped out from behind the counter where she had been working on a custom order.~Written forGansey WeekBonus Prompt:Bright Colors/Dark shadows/It’s hard not to love you





	roses are red, lilies are blue, idk what to call this flowershop au

**Author's Note:**

> look, i tried to come up with a better name for this than the wip title and i just couldn't so this is what you get.  
Thank you to Dinn for the beta read!

The man was thumbing at his lower lip as he looked at the displays of premade bouquets, looking between each of them and never picking one up. Eventually, Blue took pity on him and stepped out from behind the counter where she had been working on a custom order. 

“Can I help you find something?”

He looked up and flashed a smile she could tell he found charming. 

“Yes! I’m looking for a bouquet for my mother. It’s her birthday, and my sister insists I need to bring a gift. I told her my presence was a gift but she disagreed. Of course, she bought her a metal plate so what the hell does she know.”

Blue blinked at him. 

“Well, for a birthday, this is a nice one. Everyone loves tulips.” She picked up one of the bouquets from the refrigerated case and held it out for inspection. He looked at it for so long she was starting to feel uncomfortable. 

“Perfect,” he said, at last, clapping his hands together once. Blue gave a tight smile and took the bouquet to be rung up. 

She thought that would be the last she saw of the strange young man, but less than a week later he was back. 

“My mother loved the bouquet, thank you for helping.”

“You’re welcome,” Blue said. 

“Do you make all the arrangements?” 

Blue narrowed her eyes. Was this dude about to mansplain her work to her in her own shop? “Yes, it’s all my work. My shop.”

Something in her tone must have shown her wariness because the man backpedaled quickly. “You have quite a good eye for color! It’s all wonderful!”

“Thank you. Can I help you with anything today?”

“Oh, um, yes!” he stammered, eyes flying around the shop. “Something for… a centerpiece!”

“What kind of event?” Blue asked, taking stock of her small assortment of premade centerpieces. Usually those she made custom. 

“A family dinner.”

“You need a centerpiece for a family dinner?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“Yes,” he said firmly, though his cheeks turned pink. It was kind of cute. 

“Alright. Well, I have a few premade ones but otherwise, I’d have to make something custom. It would be a bit more expensive than these but—” she cut off as he waved his hand. 

“Not a problem.”

This time both of Blue’s eyebrows went up and she swallowed down a remark about the young man’s flippant dismissal of money. He was a customer. She had to be nice. 

It was the worst part of her job. 

After he had surveyed the centerpieces and deemed one suitable, seeming not to really care about what it looked like or whether or not it matched his table setting, he waved cheerily and left. 

The next day was a Saturday, her busiest, and Noah was behind the counter checking out a woman and her elderly mother for a custom order when the guy came back. 

She spared him a glance but then returned to the customer she was helping. When she saw him again, he was chatting pleasantly with Noah as he purchased a simple bouquet of daffodils. The yellow matched the color of the horrendous polo shirt he was wearing. 

“Going for a theme?” She asked as she approached the counter, wiping her hands on her apron. 

“Jane!” The man exclaimed. 

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I don’t know your name, I’ve got to call you something. I’ve always liked the name Jane.” He smiled congenially.

Blue looked a Noah with an incredulous look. Noah hid a giggle in his hand. “Blue, this is Gansey. He says he’s quite smitten with your little shop.”

“Yes you’ve been in a lot the last couple weeks,” she addressed the man, Gansey. “Sudden need for copious amounts of floral arrangements? New girlfriend?”

Gansey’s cheeks turned pink and Blue thought suddenly that the color suited him much better than the yellow of his shirt. 

“Just a few things that came up. Does it bother you?”

“Never going to turn away a paying customer,” she winked at him. He blushed darker and stammered as she walked away, swaying her hips just to fluster him. He wouldn’t be the first customer to have a crush on “the flower shop girl”. 

When she was free again, he was gone. 

“Do you know him?” Noah asked later. 

“Who? Gansey?”

Noah nodded. 

“No, he’s just been in a few times. He’s cute when he blushes,” she shrugged. 

“Blue!” Noah cried out. “You’re messing with a customer because he blushes?”

“So? It’s my shop. And he’s coming in an awful lot for someone who doesn’t like it.”

Noah’s brow furrowed but he dropped it. 

Sure enough, Gansey returned two days later with a thin excuse about his desk at work being bare. Blue found him an arrangement in various shades of blue, “so you can remember my name.” 

He blushed just as she had intended and stammered something back before rushing from the shop. Blue smiled at him when he stole a look over his shoulder and he smiled back dopily. 

Gansey was back that Friday afternoon and Blue decided enough was enough. 

“Gansey,” she greeted. “What excuse do you have this time?”

“What?”

“There is no possible way you have yet more need for flowers. So I’m cutting to the chase: what’s your excuse this time?”

Gansey swallowed hard. “What do you know about Welsh kings?”

That was not what Blue expected. 

“What?”

“Welsh kings. They’re my area of study. Particularly Owen Glendower, he --”

“Gansey,” she cut him off. “Why are you telling me about Welsh kings?”

“I like them.”

“Ooh-kay,” she said, drawing out the first syllable. “But, you really have nothing else you want to say? No other question you’d rather ask?”

Somehow, his blush darkened even more. “You’re working.”

Blue stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “I’m working.”

“Yes. And some things should not be said to people who are working. Because society dictates that retail workers be nice and accommodating to customers and often don’t feel as though they can say no to certain questions, especially when it’s a male customer asking a female employee and --”

“Gansey,” she cut him off again. “You ramble when you’re nervous don’t you?”

He nodded, his lips pressed firmly shut. 

“Would you like to go to dinner? With me?”

“Really?”

“As a date. To be clear.”

“Really?” Gansey asked again, a smile breaking out over his face. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Good,” she smiled back. “You can pick me up at 7:30 tonight.”

Gansey’s eyes widened. “Where?”

“Here,” she said. “I live upstairs.”

“Oh, neat,” he said, then buried his face in his hands. 

Blue laughed. “Neat?”

“I don’t know, please just ignore me, I don’t know what I’m saying.”

“But you’re so cute when you blush,” Blue teased and Gansey blushed darker. “Go on, get out of here. I’ve got real customers to make arrangements for. See you tonight.”

“Okay, Jane. See you tonight.” He smiled softly and left the shop, waving shyly as he closed the door behind him. 

“Oh my god!” a voice exclaimed behind her. 

“Noah!” she spun around. “How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it,” he grinned. 

Blue groaned and dropped her head onto her forearms on the counter. “Why are you even here?” 

“It’s payday.”

She looked up. “You work in the morning. Couldn’t you come then?”

“But then I wouldn’t get to spy on you and Polo Shirt Gansey the Third,” Noah grinned at her.

“The third?” 

“It was on his credit card.”

“What have I done,” Blue deadpanned and Noah giggled. 

“He’s cute though, I see it.”

Blue rolled her eyes and went to get his paycheck. By the time she had shooed Noah out, finished her custom orders, rung out the ones being picked up and fridged the ones for the morning, it was closing time. She flipped the lock and the sign and went upstairs. 

Staring into her closet, she wondered what to wear to a date with a guy who wore boat shoes. She decided to go extra obnoxious -- just so he would really know what he was signing up for -- and pulled on a homemade crochet dress over strategically ripped jeans and a couple of t-shirts. She slid on a few bangles, added some more clips to her hair, and stomped on her favorite combat boots. 

A quick look in the mirror to make sure she was happy with her ensemble and then she went back down to the shop. Gansey was waiting outside the closed door and looking nervously at the people walking by. Blue crossed the shop and flipped the lock, stepping out onto the sidewalk. 

“Hi,” he breathed. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you, you look nice yourself.” He had changed from his bright pink polo shirt into a more muted button-down and had added some product to his hair. 

“I wasn’t sure what to bring, normally I would bring flowers to a first date but that seemed ridiculous and then I thought maybe a book? But I don’t know what you like to read, so --”

“Gansey,” Blue cut in again, laughing. “You’ve got to relax. It’s alright. Here, I have an idea.”

She opened the shop door again, not having locked up yet, and snagged a single daisy stem from the case. She stepped back out onto the sidewalk and reached up to tuck it behind his ear. 

“Now we’ve got flowers.” Gansey blushed and Blue locked the door behind her. “Shall we?” 

Gansey crooked his elbow out to her and she grinned at him, looping her arm through his and heading off down the sidewalk. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone for following along on my Gansey Week adventures!  
i'm on tumblr at [blueseyforthesoul](https://blueseyforthesoul.tumblr.com/)


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